The 1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 19th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 30 April, with the Spanish Grand Prix, and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on 15 October.
Season summary
1967 marked a seminal year in motorcycle Grand Prix history as well as the end of an era, with Honda making the decision to withdraw its racing program from competition. Nevertheless, Honda would go out with a bang, with Mike Hailwood taking the 250 cc and 350 cc crowns and coming within a whisker of dethroning Giacomo Agostini for the 500 cc title.
Honda decided to concentrate on the larger classes leaving Suzuki to dominate the 50 cc class with Anscheidt again the champion. The improved Yamahas took the 125 cc class, with Bill Ivy finishing ahead of teammate Phil Read.
In the 250 cc class, Read would battle Hailwood mightily for the title. They both finished the season with 50 points, but Hailwood took the title because he had five wins to Read's four. In the 350 cc class, Hailwood had an easier time, taking six wins and claiming the crown by mid-season.
The 500 title fight would be one for the ages, with Agostini and Hailwood swapping wins back and forth including a legendary duel at the Isle of Man TT. The chase went down to the last race in Canada. Hailwood won there to tie Agostini on points. Each rider had five wins so it came down to second places — Agostini taking the title with three seconds to Hailwood's two.
With Honda's pullout, Hailwood left motorcycle racing to take up a car racing career. He left in a blaze of glory, winning three classes in one day at the Dutch TT as well as three classes in one week at the Isle of Man TT.
1967 Grand Prix season calendar Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 50cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Sidecars 500cc winner Report 1 30 April Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc Circuit Hans-Georg Anscheidt Bill Ivy Phil Read Auerbacher / Dein Report 2 7 May West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring Hans-Georg Anscheidt Yoshimi Katayama Ralph Bryans Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Enders / Engelhardt Report 3 21 May French Grand Prix Charade Circuit Yoshimi Katayama Bill Ivy Bill Ivy Enders / Engelhardt Report 4 16 June Isle of Man TT Snaefell Mountain Stuart Graham Phil Read Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Schauzu / Horst Schneider Report 5 24 June Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen Yoshimi Katayama Phil Read Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Enders / Engelhardt Report 6 2 July Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Hans-Georg Anscheidt Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Enders / Engelhardt Report 7 16 July East German Grand Prix Sachsenring Bill Ivy Phil Read Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Report 8 23 July Czechoslovak Grand Prix Masaryk Circuit Bill Ivy Phil Read Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Report 9 6 August Finnish Grand Prix Imatra Circuit Stuart Graham Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Enders / Engelhardt Report 10 19 August Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit Bill Ivy Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Mike Hailwood Report 11 3 September Nations Grand Prix Monza Bill Ivy Phil Read Ralph Bryans Giacomo Agostini Auerbacher / Nelson Report 12 30 September Canadian Grand Prix Mosport Bill Ivy Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Report 13 15 October Japanese Grand Prix Fuji Speedway Mitsuo Itoh Bill Ivy Ralph Bryans Mike Hailwood ReportSources:
Standings
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best of four were counted on 50cc championships, best of six in 350cc and 500cc championships, best of seven in 125cc and 250cc championships, and best of five in the Sidecars races.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1
500cc final standings
Pos Rider Machine GER MAN HOL BEL DDR TCH FIN ULS NAC CAN Pts 1 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 1 Ret 2 1 1 2 1 20 1 2 46 (58) 2 Mike Hailwood Honda Ret 1 1 2 Ret 1 Ret 1 2 1 46 (52) 3 John Hartle Matchless / Kirby-Metisse 6 2 5 2 2 6 22 4 Peter Williams Matchless 2 2 3 Ret 16 5 Jack Findlay Matchless / Norton 3DNS 4 3DNS 3 9 15 6 Fred Stevens Hannah-Paton Ret 5 Ret 3 Ret Ret 5 Ret 4 Ret 11 7 John Cooper Norton 16 4 Ret 12 Ret 3 6 8 8 Gyula Marsovszky Matchless Ret 14 5 5 10 4 Ret 7 7 7 9 Billie Nelson Norton 5 9 11 7 8 3 Ret 6 10 Steve Spencer Norton 3 9 13 5 Ret 6 11 Mike Duff Matchless 8 Ret Ret Ret 3 4 12 Angelo Bergamonti Hannah-Paton Ret 11 3 4 13 John Dodds Norton Ret 10 8 4 6 9 Ret 4 = Dan Shorey Norton Ret 4 9 6 10 Ret 8 4 15 Robin Fitton Norton 4 7 Ret 3 16 Bo Granath Matchless 15 17 14 12 Ret 4 15 3 17 John Blanchard Seeley-Matchless / Seeley-URS Ret 33 Ret 4 3 18 Ivor Lloyd Matchless 4 3 19 Rodney Gould Norton Ret 5 11 Ret 8 2 20 Giuseppe Mandolini Moto Guzzi 5 2 = Andreas Georgeades Velocette 5 2 22 Chris Conn Norton 7 Ret 6 Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret 1 23 Derek Minter Norton Ret 7 6 1 24 Griff Jenkins Norton 6 13 1 25 Maurice Hawthorne Norton Ret 6 1 26 Johnny Rockett Norton 6 1 27 Lewis Young Metisse / Matchless Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 7 0 28 Tom Dickie Matchless 7 0 = Dave Lloyd Triton 7 0 = Frantisek Srna Jawa 7 0 31 Kel Carruthers Metisse / Norton / Matchless Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret 9 Ret 14 Ret 0 32 Billy McCosch Matchless 8 10 0 33 Keith Turner Matchless 24 13 8 0 34 Manuel Radbord Honda 8 0 35 Ron Chandler Matchless Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 0 34 Hartmut Allner BMW 9 0 = Thomas de Mange Matchless 9 0 = Dave Degens Matchless 9 0 38 Derek Lee Matchless 10 12 Ret 12 12 0 39 Walter Scheimann Norton 10 Ret 13 12 Ret 0 40 Jack Saunders Matchless 14 10 0 41 Karl Hoppe Matchless Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 0 42 Malcolm Stanton Norton Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 0 43 Jean Lysight Triumph 10 0 44 Rex Butcher Norton 11 11 0 45 Hannu Kuparinen Matchless 15 11 0 46 Godfrey Nash Norton Ret 11 Ret 0 47 Denis Gallagher Matchless Ret 11 0 48 Bob MacLean Norton 11 0 = Armand Nerger Honda 11 0 50 Henry Hanje Triumph 12 0 51 Oliver Howe Norton Ret 12 16 0 52 Barry Randle Norton 12 0 = Dietmar Völmle Norton 12 0 54 Ernst Weiss Matchless 18 13 0 55 Fritjof Eccarius Matchless 13 Ret 0 = Bill Smith Matchless 13 Ret 0 57 Cecil Crawford Norton 13 0 = David Shepard Norton 13 0 59 György Kurucz Matchless / Norton 14 14 0 60 Guy Cooremans Norton 15 0 = Errol Cowan Matchless 15 0 = Pat Hewartson Norton 15 0 = Charlie Sanby Norton 15 0 64 Gordon Keith Norton 21 16 Ret 0 65 Bob Steele Matchless Ret 16 0 66 Tony McGurk Matchless 16 0 67 Gianfranco Domeniconi Norton 17 0 = Steve Jolly Matchless 17 0 = Ron Wilson Norton 17 0 70 Bert Oosterhuis Norton 18 0 = Brian Walmsley Norton 18 0 = Benedetto Zambotti Norton 18 0 73 Ken Kay Matchless-Metisse Ret 19 0 74 Bernie Lund Matchless 19 0 = Emanuele Maugliani Norton 19 0 76 Norman Price Norton 20 0 77 Roy Reid Norton 28 21 0 78 Ian Burne Norton 22 Ret 0 79 Harry Turner Norton 22 0 80 Billy Andersson Matchless 23 0 81 Lee Atlee Norton 25 Ret 0 82 Doug Cash Norton 26 0 83 Ray Knight Triumph 27 0 84 Colin Thompson Norton 29 0 85 Albert Moule Norton 30 0 86 Chris Neve Matchless 31 0 87 Ian Ablett BSA 32 0 88 David Johnson Norton 34 0 89 Albert Haddock Triton 35 0 90 Hugh Evans MV Agusta 36 0 91 Melvyn Rice Vincent HRD 37 0 - Joe Dunphy Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 - Edy Lenz Matchless Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 - Eric Hinton Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike GER MAN HOL BEL DDR TCH FIN ULS NAC CAN PtsSources:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest lap
350cc final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Mike Hailwood1 United Kingdom Honda4062 Giacomo Agostini2 Italy MV Agusta3213 Ralph Bryans United Kingdom Honda2014 Heinz Rosner7 East Germany MZ1805 Derek Woodman United Kingdom MZ1406 Alberto Pagani6 Italy Aermacchi1107 Kel Carruthers18 Australia Aermacchi908 Renzo Pasolini3 Italy Benelli809 Silvio Grassetti11 Italy Benelli6010 K. Mimuro Japan Yamaha40Sources:
250cc final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Mike Hailwood1 United Kingdom Honda5052 Phil Read2 United Kingdom Yamaha5043 Bill Ivy13 United Kingdom Yamaha4624 Ralph Bryans United Kingdom Honda4025 Derek Woodman4 United Kingdom MZ1806 Heinz Rosner6 East Germany MZ1307 Ginger Molloy11 New Zealand Bultaco908 Gyula Marsovsky12 Switzerland Bultaco809 Akiyasu Motohashi8 Japan Yamaha6010 Tommy Robb22 United Kingdom Bultaco5010 Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Kawasaki50Sources:
125cc final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Bill Ivy2 United Kingdom Yamaha5682 Phil Read4 United Kingdom Yamaha4023 Stuart Graham United Kingdom Suzuki3814 Yoshimi Katayama6 Japan Suzuki1915 László Szabó Hungary MZ1306 Hans-Georg Anscheidt12 West Germany Suzuki1207 Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Kawasaki908 Kel Carruthers Australia Honda709 Tim Coopey Canada Yamaha6010 Thomas Heuschkel East Germany MZ5010 Walter Scheimann15 West Germany Honda50Sources:
50cc final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Hans-Georg Anscheidt1 West Germany Suzuki3032 Yoshimi Katayama5 Japan Suzuki2823 Stuart Graham United Kingdom Suzuki2214 Angel Nieto6 Spain Derbi1205 Barry Smith8 Australia Derbi1206 Mitsuo Itoh Japan Suzuki817 R. Schmalze West Germany Kreidler608 José Busquet Spain Derbi408 Benjamin Grau Spain Derbi408 Hiroyuki Kawasaki Japan Suzuki408 Tommy Robb United Kingdom Suzuki40Sources:
References
Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.